When Viacom took away two of the biggest shows from Hulu, the alarm bells started ringing. Hulu’s current incarnation is in the balance, and this was the last thing they needed. To lose both Comedy Central hit shows “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report” could be the beginning of the end, for without premium content viewers will start leaving the site. Considering the popular video site still does not turn a profit, lower viewing numbers could kill the service.

Viacom making Hulu nervous

And economics is what its all about it seems. Viacom Chief Executive, Philippe Dauman said at the investor conference in Florida:- “We found that in the current economic model for Hulu, there’s just not that much in it for us to continue at this time even though we have a good relationship with them.”

He also said that streaming the shows on Hulu’ website had been an experiment, but still left the door open for a return to Hulu. Viewers can still see both shows on the internet from the Comedy Central website.

So it looks like Hulu are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. On the one hand they cannot turn a profit if they take less revenue share. But on the other, tv networks now know they can monetize their own content using their own websites and make much more of a return. Of course Hulu know the problems which is why they are actively looking at a pay to view option. It is yet to be seen if anyone else takes the same stand as Viacom, and if they do. It may be time to say bye bye to Hulu’s current model.